Russian Politics Thread

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Why then the move on changing the constitution? That has a longtime perspective.

Depends who you read. Technically, he could remain president until 2036, but according to this article, the recent Constitutional changes is more a sign that he will step down in 2024 and retain some sort of "informal power":

The amendments strongly suggest that Putin will give up the presidency for good after 2024. “The same person cannot hold the post of president of the Russian federation for more than two terms,” the proposed text says. This drops the old formula, “two consecutive terms,” which allowed Putin to return to the presidency in 2012 after a four-year hiatus. Some legal commentators have suggested that the amendments may be tweaked to wipe the slate clean, allowing Putin to run again, but that would be the kind of brute-force move that Putin has eschewed, unlike the authoritarian lifetime rulers of some Central Asian states and Belarus.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/...ccessor-a69001

Obviously, no one knows for sure, but Putin is smart enough to know that trying to hold on to power forever is a recipe for disaster. It is much smarter to follow the Chinese model where a new leader is appointed every 10 years or so.